Light blue business casual shirt buttoned down from his neck
Tucked inside gray pants without pleats
Walking inside his serious face
Stuffed with ear buds
Through which Slim Thug rapped into the soft
Brown tissue of his interwoven brain complex

A flash of teenage madness
He stops at the fountain
Gets some water
The water is cold
As if he paid for it
First block is math class with Mr. Marino
He likes math
The numbers are like paper
He knows when to add when to subtract
When to divide
Multiply
The operations help him deal with stacking paper
He has to deal with paper every day
Thank God
The gold chain ’round his neck
Tucked inside his light blue business casual shirt
With a big ol’ gold face dangling
Clanks against his chest
It’s Jesus

In math class with Mr. Marino
He isn’t loud
Not like he is on the street
Whenever he has to get his point across
Mr. Marino isn’t like the other funny
People in Travis High School
Mr. Marino is alright
But he’d never call Mr. Marino his friend
The last person who said he was
His friend jumped him in his hood
Him and three others jumped him after
He said he was his friend
They jumped him and took
Everything he had
Which was a lot of paper
Some chips
And a blue drink.

-I’ve been jumped in every hood I’ve lived in. I’ve jumped other people too. Some of the people I jumped jumped me back. I never got the chance to jump my FRIEND back. If I see him again he’ll talk with my piece. Nah I don’t leave people for dead. But I’ll lace up and show him who’s boss.